My class and I say a big THANK YOU!!!!

We received sooooo many postcards from all of you! It has been such a fun project collecting all of them and locating them on the map. When others come in the classroom my students love sharing the cards with them! Thank you all for your kindness!!

Just another day of shopping...in Casa!

Four of us started this Saturday off by going out for breakfast. Breakfast isn't my favorite meal to eat out here in Morocco. It is a LOT of white bread, some kind of egg or omlet (maybe), sometimes delicious fresh squezzed orange juice and then....more bread.

But, the company was fun and the place had a nice atmosphere.

Next we headed into Casa. We went to a souk (like a medina or a mall of sorts.....but NOT!). Outside the souk they have these tables and tables set up of "stuff".....all kinds of stuff! It looks like a giant dollar store set up outside!


You can buy..... teapots, dishes, blenders.....

carpets.....

                               jewelery........

Our mission today was to buy a set of water glasses to replace several we had broken in our apartment.

And there we go....water glasses by the crate full!

"Okay, we have the water glasses. What else do we need?"
says Judy, Linda and Chandel.

We walked by this hardware store and I loved the display....can you see the cute little black cat in the middle asleep on the door mats? :)

I think when I grow up I'd like to take more photography classes and just take pictures all day long. I LOVE looking for the beauty or origianlity in everything around me!

I wish the things I loved to do paid better money!! :)

Next we went into the bakery for me to buy some pastilla. It is a philo type of bread with a chicken/cinnamon mixture inside. I love to take one to school and heat it in the microwave. I add a chopped tomatoe and there is my lunch!

The cakes in the display case are just beautiful...very fancy!! However, we have found out over repetition that their desserts are very different than American desserts. They LOOK great, but they don't taste that great.

                 more fancy desserts!

Colorful little cookies in fancy wrappings!

Well, we are done....
water glasses
pastilla
fruits and nuts
groceries
screws and a rod to replace the broken one

yip....that's everything! Home we go....

Special gifts from my students.....

Salaheddine and me in my new djellaba that he had given me!

Ashlee, Courtney, Gail and I are out for brunch on Mother's Day! I was wearing a djellaba from another student!


Very special gifts I will take back to the states with me to remember these kiddos!

Probably my least favorite day yet in Morocco! Friday the 13th....

See how this blue truck is parked in our parking lot! Who parks like that????!!!!!???

Well, that is representative of how my Friday the 13th was today! When I got home and pulled into the parking lot I thought..."Perfect! Who parks like that? This is SO perfect for the ending of this very exhausting day!"

So here was our day....a simple field trip to a farm. The Arabic and French teachers planned this trip for the two second grade classes.

This the four of us on the farm getting served our lunch....tagine (couscous, vegetables, and chicken) and warm buttermilk.

Myself, the French teacher, the Arabic teacher and Ms. Shen.

The beginning of the trip....everyone looks pretty in control and quiet, right?

The longer the trip went, the louder and more wild the kids got...

The bus driver cranked up the Moroccan music...

As we are driving through Casa in rush hour traffic I learn that the bus driver is one of the many here that LOVE to honk his horn! (Drives me CRAZY!!)....



The travel part of a field trip has always been my least favorite part of the day, but this one was over the top crazy!

The kids loved the farm. They saw lots of animals up close that they have only read about! We saw an ostrich, cows, horses, ducks, bunnies, turkeys, peacocks, guinea foul...

We even saw a video of a live birth of a calf!! (I'm sure that would have required a permission slip for a 2nd grader in the states!) The comment from the American mom that was along: "Hmmm...we always have just told her that God brings babies. I guess I have some explaining to do tonight!"  :D

They enjoyed trying to milking a cow!

The farm was full of beautiful lime trees!

Here are the three school buses that took us to the farm. Only one got lost and took an extra hour to arrive. (Guess who's bus!! ...yip...mine!)

The bus drivers taking a break!

The kids and I taking a break! Hot, hot day in the sun!

The ladies taught the kids about making bread. The kids kneaded the dough and made rolls to bake in their outdoor oven.

These cute, little tables and chairs under several tents for lunch time and taking breaks in the shade.

Amine poking his head and toothless grin out of the window of one of the buildings!

The kids got a kick out of this guy when he grabbed a red hat off one of the boys! 

We had one parent go along with us.....we could have used 6 more!!

As we sat and rested a bit the kids had a huge water fight and got completely soaked right before we got back on the buses!...perfect!

A simple bouquet one of my girls gave me at the end of a LONG day!

On the way home we went by a couple of mosques and tons of men were leaving the buildings. They had just had their Friday prayer time.

The little girl in front of me said, "Oh, I forgot to pray!" and she immediately started to pray right there in the bus!

I said a few prayers of my own on the way home as the kids got louder and louder!!!

Thanking God for safety, a cool shower and a comfy bed when I finally arrived home!

Favorite Mother's Days ......

This year I am spending Mother's Day in Morocco. My gift came earlier this week from one of my students. Sometimes my students seem like they are my own kids because I get so attached to them! 

This little guy drove me crazy when I first started the year. He would talk constantly, goof off and laugh at any kind of punishment I gave him. He went from getting C's to D's by Oct and was headed in a bad direction. The mom was wonderful all along and wanted to do whatever needed to be done. I suggested a tutor and more firmness at home when he did something wrong in school.  I explained that it is only second grade now, but if he doesn't take school seriously, this behavior could get much worse by the time he is in Middle School.

Well..... he got an A+ on his reading test this week AND he came to me with a book he had bought at the book fair. He read part of it to me and said, "Miss, I really like this book!" (He hated reading earlier!) I feel like his tutor, his parents and I really helped him turn a corner and I was SOOOO pleased I got tears in my eyes. A perfect gift on this week of Mother's Day! :)

The photo is of Fahd, Habiba(his wonderful tutor and my good friend), and myself. The picture was taken on a Friday that we had a "free dress" day for anyone that had read books and achieved their goal. When Fahd came in a tux with tails I complimented him on looking handsome and then asked why he chose those clothes. His answer: "Miss, it is all I had in my closet!" The funniest part was at recess when he was out playing soccer with the other kids in his tux and tails. Then I noticed the length of the pants....about 3 inches too short and realized his mom probably thought....why not? he won't be fitting into this much longer anyway!!  :D 

Fahd made my Mother's Day very special this year! It really reminded me why I LOVE teaching!

But, these three kids are my REAL joy on Mother's Day and every day of the year!!! MY own kids! I can't be with them this year, but am thinking back to past years and smiling at the memories! (Well, except for that ONE year.....that little sky diving adventure!) :)

Love you and miss you,
Mom

After a long day of teaching.....relaxing at Sunny Beach....it's the best!

The entrance to Sunny Beach.They keep all the gardens so beautiful!

After a long day of teaching I headed to Sunny Beach for a walk. It was just what I needed. It was high tide and energizing! The waves were crashing into the rocks and shore with great force, spraying water in the air. The sun was still high and bright. It had been raining off and on for the last three days, so the sun was a welcome sight today! I love this time of the year when you can feel the days getting longer and the sun staying up later!!

This is looking at the cafe part of Sunny Beach. I had been sitting inside all winter because it would get dark early and then turn chilly outdoors. Today, I sat out and enjoyed the warm sun shining down on my face!

The is looking out at the ocean from my table. As you look closely you will notice one of two things (or both): That I eat dinner wayyyyyy earlier than the rest of Moroccans (6 vs 8:3opm). That it is early in the season, so the tourists haven't arrived in full force. Because I almost had the place to myself! LOVE it!

Check out those big waves today! I will miss Sunny Beach and the relaxing moments here!

Pretty soon a soccer game starts up on the beach....great fun to watch! These Moroccans are very skilled with soccer balls entertaining!

Well, I was just going to relax a bit and get something to drink, but the owner (a parent of children at school) came to sit with me for a bit, so I ordered dinner. I had the salad with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil and thought of you, Marcia! It was wonderful!

Time to head home....Judy didn't join me tonight. She is having problems with her ankle hurting, so I'd best head home and see how she is doing.

Sunny Beach....what a lovely way to end the day!

If life could just be simple....

If everyone in the world could see life as a simple day of playing like these little girls....awww...life would be GOOD!

I looked out my window this morning to see these two little girls playing in the parking lot below. Later, when I went down to leave, they greet me.  One says:

"Hallo! Guten Tag!"

and the other one says:

"Salam wa aleikum!"

And I say "Hello girls!

We all know what we are saying, but that is as far as our language skills go. The little girl on the left lives above me. Her father is a German airline pilot and her family comes here to live  in their apartment for a vacation every now and then. The little girl on the right is Moroccan. She lives in the lean-to across the street from me.

Somehow these two little girls met and have become friends. They don't speak each other's language, but they have the best time laughing and playing together. The German girl has a skateboard and other toys she shares with the Moroccan girl. They run in and out of cars all day long. I love listening to them giggle outside of my window.

As the three of us greeted one another with smiles I thought....how simple, how lovely, how innocent. 

Across town today one of the teacher's had her newborn son baptized in one of the two Christian churches. Outside of the church is was raining hard and there were huge demonstrations taking place in the city of Casablanca. If you haven't heard, this week there was a bombing that took place in the city of Marrakesh (about three hours from here.) After investigating they decided it was terrorist who planned and set off the bomb.

I'm wondering.......how does life get so complicated and so ugly sometimes and yet, if we look closely we can still see beauty!

As we drove along through some back roads yesterday I stopped to take a photo of the beauty in the fields. The brilliant red of the poppies, the  yellow flowers and the cows standing as if to pose for my photo!

 It's Sunday in Morocco. May Day. That was always a special day at my house when I was little and for my boys as they were growing up. I didn't make May Baskets today to give out or receive any, but these poppies reminded me of the simple pleasures of May Day!